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School year photos
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Hi all is there anyone out there that can give me some info on school photos you know the ones , taken each year and usually out of focus or over exposed well that’s my experience of them with 3 children and 10 years of schooling
What im looking to find out is1 what is the best way to approach a school about doing such work.
2 does the school get a cut from the photographer or does the photographer pay the school for the work.
3 problems that photographers may encounter with schools/parents
if there are other things im over looking please tellIm sure there is someone out there that has done this school photo and I would appreciate your advise thanks for all your time in reading this
Hi there,
I have been doing this for a couple of years for the local boys school.
There are different ways to get involved in this. What I did with the local schools was write an introductory letter, then ring to see if they received it and during that phonecall asked if I could call in person to show my portfolio etc.
A couple of things to look out for. Due to the sensitive nature of child photography (a sad sign of the times we live in) it would be helpful if you are part of some sort of organisation (perhaps join the SWPP ?), you should also have a portfolio of portrait work showing your best work, a small portfolio of top quality work is better than a large portfolio of mediocre work, and it would also help if you are known locally, you said you have three kids – perhaps target their schools first.
For schools a bit further afield I just make sure to write to them at the start of each academic year.
There are three local schools where I live and I cover the boys school, the girls school uses two photographers, one for the yearly photos and the other for the sacraments and are reluctant to change as they have been using the same guys for years. The other uses a photographer whos sister is on the board of management, but I still write to them each year so they know I’m still around.
Things to bear in mind – its actually very tiring work. Have you ever tried to herd cats !!! This would be something similar.
Trying to coax smiles out of the younger kids to trying to get the older ones to lose their attitude (I’m way to cool to smile !!). It sounds like an ok day, set up the studio and let the students file past, but you have to operate to a strict schedule per class and make sure that each photo you take has been properly documented with the correct name & class etc.Then there are the parents :evil: :evil:
You need extreme patience. Most of them will be fine & very happy with their photos, but you will always get one or two complaining that little johnys tie isn’t straight, could you not have gotten a nicer smile, how comes her photo is nicer than mine etc…… When you are over this you also have to contend with the likelihood that a number of parents take home the photo, scan it in and return it saying they don’t want it. Try work out a way where you can avoid this.
In regard to payments to the schools I have never done this. I have taken a few shots for their website free of charge and always present them with a framed print of each class. A couple of bottles of wine & boxes of chocolates to the secretaries never go amiss, nor will buying extra tickets for raffles or sponsoring prizes.
Its tough work, but I still find it great as I can plan in advance. I already know the dates for the communion & confirmation photos for this year as well as the class numbers. I have a hit rate of 80% (some returns & some don’t get their photos taken) so I can budget for the two events. When you are working for yourself this is great to have.
In summation, its not as easy as it seems, but great to have both for the budget and also it gets your name out there among the locals.
Rgds
Kevin
Kevin thank you so much for the detailed answer all i can say is top man.
pixelmadness wrote:
Kevin thank you so much for the detailed answer all i can say is top man.
Me too, very good of you to pass on your experience in such a detailed manner like this-
in this, and other recent posts-j
No problem at all.
I haven’t contributed much to the site over the last while due to being bogged down with work.
Its also handy for me to think about things in more detail as I am still very much in the infancy stage
of my career, and sometimes stepping back, and answering questions, helps me to notice things which
might have just passed me by in the rush to get jobs finished (and paid for !!).The one thing that I miss most having going pro is taking photos for the sake of it and just for personal reasons.
If I’m not working on wedding albums, doing my accounts, sorting out my website, backing up drives etc… I really just
want to spend time with the family & walk the dog (and the occassional sly sleep-on which is achieveable now that I work from home)One of my new years resolutions was to get out and take a few more landscape and just general photos, but that, along
with quitting the fags, has not yet been realised !!!Feel free to pm me with any further questions you might have.
Regards
Kevin
KPM wrote:
The one thing that I miss most having going pro is taking photos for the sake of it and just for personal reasons.
If I’m not working on wedding albums, doing my accounts, sorting out my website, backing up drives etc… I really just
want to spend time with the family & walk the dog (and the occassional sly sleep-on which is achieveable now that I work from home)Thats great to see that someone else is feeling exactly the same as me. Mind you ….. I do feel a little guilty about the odd “sly sleep-on” but now that I know I’m not alone I’ll feel much better next time. Kevin, its great to hear this and know “its not just me” who very seldom takes pictures for the sake of taking pictures anymore.
Down this side of the world the schools (National Schools) usually expect some cut from the sales to boost their funding process. About 7%, I think, is kinda normal but build in a bit of “fat” in the pricing for the school. They will really appreciate the funds as some of them struggle to meet the percentage they have to put up front for grant aid.
Hi Pixel
My advise is to first build up a presentation package outling who you are are,what you do and finally how you can fullfill their expectations. From what i have encountered during the last 3 years doing schools is that they usually work with local photographers based only on availability and loyalty. I first send out a letter to each school at start of term outling my availablity for the year and let them know that i will call them in the near future to settle a meeting if possible. This is important as the schoold sec or principle rarely has time for cold callers. From that i bring along a presentaion package of what i plan to offer.Establish a good relationship with the board of managemnet that usually means maybe a 15/20% of takings given back to school as a gesture. Use a lab that has a schools program or service like onevision/colab/redwood etc. Dont have two many choices of poses as this complicates things for parents. I currently offer a multi pack of assorted sizes and colours for 5 schools and this works just fine. 3/4 length portarits work here and only one pose is sent back on the proof card however alternative negs can be sent to the customer if they are not happy with one supplied on proof card.
Finally try and have all customer service and parent contact done through you and NOT the school as they have enough to do without the headache of sorting packs. Oh make sure you are insured….
Regards
Ben
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